SOUTH WASHINGTON COUNTY SCHOOL BOARD FEB. MEETING MINUTES

District 833 School Board Regular Meeting

Unofficial Clerk's

Summary for

February 7, 2013

Pursuant to due call and notice thereof, a regular meeting of the School Board of Independent School District 833, South Washington County, was held on Thursday, February 7, 2013. The meeting was called to order by Chairman Ron Kath at 6:00 p.m. at the District Service Center, located at 7362 East Point Douglas Road South, Cottage Grove, MN. School Board members present were Marsha Adou, Tracy Brunnette, Jim Gelbmann, Laurie Johnson, Ron Kath and Katy McElwee-Stevens. Board member David Kemper was absent. Superintendent Keith Jacobus was present.

A motion was made and seconded to approve the consent agenda items - retirements, resignations, terminations, leaves of absence, change of status, extended field trips, contact with Sunbelt Staffing. Motion was carried.

Luis Saenz, Director of Equity and Integration, and Aaron Bushberger, Director of Finance, presented the first reading of the proposed FY 2013-2014 Integration Plan and Budget. The Minnesota Department of Education (MDE) requires School Board approval of the Equity and Integration budget prior to March 15, 2013. The Minnesota Desegregation Rule states that school districts must develop partnerships with racially isolated districts if they border them. South Washington County Schools is one of ten member districts that are part of the East Metro Integration District (EMID). The collaborative is designed to meet the intended outcomes of creating integrative learning environments and working towards closing the achievement gap. The budget is broken down into four goal areas: Closing achievement gaps through accountability and continuous improvement; Provide professional learning opportunities to meet the educational needs of diverse learners through data driven decision making and build instructional capacity designed to close the achievement gap in integrated learning environments; Implementation of successful inter-district partnerships that offer opportunities for student interaction within the context of integrated learning environments that provide an academic value; Leadership and quality management. Total revenue for this budget is $2,562,307.00. Alternative attendance revenue is listed at $16,968.00 while revenue contributed back to the collaborative is $600,997.00. This item will be brought back to the School Board for approval at their February 21st regular meeting.

Keith Jacobus, Superintendent, presented the first reading of the proposed 2013-2014 school district calendar. A summary of the recommended 2013-2014 district calendar is as follows:

•August 19-21, 2013 - Probationary Teacher Workshop Days

•August 22-23, 2013 - New Teacher Workshop Days

•August 26-28, 2013 - Teacher workshop days

•August 29, 2013 - ATPPS Day

•September 2, 2013 - Labor Day Holiday, no school

•September 3, 2013 - First day of school

•October 17-18, 2013 - Education MN Professional Convention Days, no school

•November 8, 2013 - Workshop day for K-12

•November 27, 2013 - End of First Trimester

•November 28-29, 2013 - Thanksgiving Holidays, no school

•December 2, 2013 - ATPPS Day

•December 23, 2013-January 1, 2014 - Winter Holidays and Break (school resumes January 2, 2014)

•January 20, 2014 - Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Holiday, no school

•February 17, 2014 - Presidents' Day Holiday, no school

•March 6, 2014 - End of Second Trimester

•March 7, 2014 - Workshop day for K-12, no school

•March 10-14, 2014 - Spring Break K-12

•April 18, 2014 - Spring Holiday, no school

•May 26, 2014 - Memorial Day Holiday, no school

•June 5, 2014 - Last day of school / End of Third Trimester

•June 6, 2014 - Workshop day for K-12

•June 9, 2014 - ATPPS Day

This item will be brought back to the School Board for approval at their February 21st regular meeting.

Keith Jacobus, Superintendent, presented the proposed 2013-2014 School Board meeting dates.

•TUESDAY, July 16, 2013 (7:00pm)

"August 8 (6:00pm) and August 22 (7:00pm)

•SATURDAY, August 10 - School Board Retreat (time and location to be determined)

•September 12 (6:00pm) and September 26 (7:00pm)

•October 10 (6:00pm) and October 24 (7:00pm)

•November 7 (6:00pm) and November 21 (7:00pm)

•December 5 (6:00pm) and December 19 (7:00pm)

•January 9 (6:00pm) and January 23 (7:00pm), 2014

•February 6 (6:00pm) and February 20 (7:00pm)

•March 6 (6:00pm) and March 20 (7:00pm)

•April 10 (6:00pm) and April 24 (7:00pm)

•May 8 (6:00pm) and May 22 (7:00pm)

•June 5 (6:00pm) and June 19 (7:00pm)

Board members were in agreement that starting in July 2013, all regular School Board meetings will have a start time of 6:30pm for consistency. This item will be brought back to the School Board for approval at their February 21st regular meeting.

Superintendent Jacobus and members of the district Cabinet presented an update on the budget and service level process. In November, the School Board was presented with a conceptual effort to create a budget and service level matrix that would demonstrate the interrelationship between funding levels and service expectations. The past three months have been spent developing the Service Level Matrix, sharing information with the community and gathering feedback to support the decision-making that will be needed in the coming months through budget discussions. As shared previously, the breakdown of categorical funding and the services tied to the general fund are the basis for the Service Level Matrix. The key service areas within the general fund are: PreK-12 Instruction, School Support Services, Operations and Maintenance; Transportation; Capital Budget; and District Support Services. An additional category labeled 'Sites & Buildings' is also included to support the district needs associated with other referendum approved funding through local sources. Team leaders went over each of the areas in detail.

An overview of the Sites and Buildings area was given. Priorities that arose from this area included security and emergency preparedness, maintaining and improving existing facilities, and short and long-term facility planning. All of these would need additional funding to support moving forward towards the 2016 vision. Overall progress from a level 3 to a level 4 would require approximately $6.5M in additional funding. Achieving vision in this area would require approximately $35M in additional funding. Eliminating some work associated with HVACF could save money and reduce the service level from a 3 to a 2. Delaying HVAC in the next series of buildings could save money and reduce the service level from a 3 to a 1. Feedback for this group included the following:

•Priorities should be in maintaining existing facilities and improving security, specifically the entrances.

•The district needs to do a better job of long range facility planning including incorporating city growth plans, having a better socio economic balance, having stable attendance boundaries, and filling existing buildings before building new ones.

•The district should incorporate funds to modernize existing buildings and construct new buildings in any future bond referendum.

An overview of the District Support area was given. The survey supported hiring additional staff for the integration of technology. It also favored an increase for department budgets for professional development, technology and resources. Feedback for this group included the following:

"No additional support was given for hiring additional staff outside of technology or professional development needs.

•As increased demand for technology occurs, additional technology support is needed across the district.

•Support was given for increased funding to better serve the schools and support building administration through professional development and increased department needs.

An overview of the Capital Funding area was given. Feedback regarding the capital service level was largely focused on technology, with limited commentary on curriculum. Stakeholders recommended addressing infrastructure needs, implementing professional development for staff and, after that, considering devices and hardware. There appeared to be support to add funding specifically as it relates to technology. Moving backwards in this area would inhibit the reality of digital learning occurring in the immediate future. Moving forward would require funding from other revenue, possibly a capital projects levy. First, we need to "catch the leaders", and then we need to "lead the leaders".

An overview of the Transportation area was given. 55% of those surveyed though the walking distances were good as is while 32% thought walking distances could be increased at the middle and high school levels. 62% support increased transportation funding to allow start times to be dictated by student learning rather than transportation efficiencies. 78% favor a fee for service for those that don't qualify for transportation service. Moving backwards in this area would mean increased walking distances and changing start times for the schools.

An overview of the Operations/Maintenance area was given. Overall, people are satisfied with the quality of the facilities. Healthy and clean classrooms are a priority. More night time support is needed for those buildings that are heavily utilized outside of the regular school day. The team felt that the buildings are not adequately staffed for custodial support and any decrease would be a detriment to a healthy learning environment.

An overview of the School Support Services area. Mental health was the major area of concern in the survey. Safety and security was also a concern with suggestions for more coverage both in the number of staff and the number of hours they work. Support personnel are seen as taking a great deal of the load off of teachers so they can focus more on student learning. Increases in clerical support would improve the support for teachers and increase their instructional time. Increases in mental health staff would assist in meeting the needs of students immediately and would positively affect the ability to train teachers more effectively to respond to student mental health needs. More technology support is needed to meet the needs of this always changing area. Building administration needs to be targeted to meet the specific needs of each building.

An overview of the PreK-12 Instruction area was given. 94% of those surveyed stated that a balance between class size and student need should be used to determine the staffing ratio. The team talked about staffing driven instruction vs. instruction driven staffing and discussed which was better for student learning. Staffing ratios are based on the attendance boundaries for each given school. The team values keeping the class sizes as low as possible but looking at individual student needs, specifically mental health.

The current financial summary for the district is $9,496 in revenue per student and $9,742 in expenditures per student which is a deficit of $246 per student. A timeline was presented that incorporates 2013-2014 budget discussions, service levels, a possible referendum in November, Strategic Plan considerations and the possible acquisition of Crosswinds School. This timeline will continue to be adjusted as more becomes known through decision making and Legislative action. Available on the district's web site (Hot Topics, Service Level Conversations) is the summary data from the online survey following the development and sharing of the Service Level Matrix and background documentation tied to each of the seven service level areas.

The meeting adjourned at 9:15pm.

This information is only a summary. The full text is available for public inspection at the administrative offices of the school district or at www.sowashco.k12.mn.us .

3/20/2013

Tags: public notices, meetings